"Unable to Reach a Definitive Agreement"

Earvin "Magic" Johnson confirmed Monday that an affiliate of his Magic Johnson Enterprises and Johnson Publishing Co. "were in advanced discussions to do business together," but said that "unfortunately we were unable to reach a definitive agreement."

In a carefully worded response, Johnson Publishing Co. issued a statement then saying that Linda Johnson Rice, chairman and chief executive officer of Johnson Publishing, "has never talked to Magic Johnson with respect to his interest in buying' the company.

"I would like to salute Linda Johnson Rice and the Johnson family for pioneering the iconic brand of the Johnson Publishing Company, which we have all come to love and respect. Ebony and Jet have been permanent fixtures on coffee tables in African-American homes for many years. Recently, an affiliate of Magic Johnson Enterprises and Johnson Publishing Company were in advanced discussions to do business together, but unfortunately we were unable to reach a definitive agreement. We will continue to look for opportunities to invest in African-American media."

"Our team of advisers have continued to explore a wide range of options to leverage our iconic Ebony and Jet brands and sustain our leadership position in the marketplace as the No. 1 African-American-owned publishing company in the world. As a privately held company, we are unable to discuss specifics of our discussions with potential partners."

Holoman and the Magic Johnson Enterprises spokeswoman, Tammy Warren, have steadfastly refused to respond to inquiries since the Bloomberg story broke.

"We're victims of the economy," Cox told Journal-isms. "Public radio is suffering across the board, and black public radio is even worse.

"We knew it was a gamble and a risk even from the beginning. We were anticipating that the quality of the show would generate that support, and it hasn't happened.

"We're not dead yet, but there is no point in looking at it any other way: We're in trouble."

"UpFront With Tony Cox" began Oct. 1 as an offering of the African American Public Radio Consortium, which in 2002 created National Public Radio's "The Tavis Smiley Show" and in 2005 the "News & Notes" program first with Ed Gordon, then Farai Chideya hosting. Cox worked on all three of those shows, and hosted the latter in its final days. The consortium continues to produce "Tell Me More" with Michel Martin on NPR, which is carried by 77 stations.

"The Michael Eric Dyson show is no longer," Loretta Rucker, executive director of the consortium, told Journal-isms in September. "We had a good four months with Dr. Dyson but the arrangement eventually devolved over compensation."

But Dyson's producer, LaFontaine F. Oliver, general manager of WEAA-FM, the Morgan University station in Baltimore, meanwhile secured a $505,000 grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to continue production of the program.

Bruce Theriault, senior vice president for radio at the CPB, told stations last week that the new Dyson show would be ready by the end of March.

The previous Dyson show was a low-budget affair in which Dyson indulged his passions, sometimes devoting the entire hour to a single guest. The show ran on 18 stations.

"WEAA, an AAPRC member that played a key role in recruiting Dyson to public radio, is now planning a different show for Dyson, one that involves more recorded segments than the earlier live format," Karen Everhart wrote in October for Current, which covers public broadcasting. "The new production arrangement also opens the door for broader carriage of a Dyson show on mainstream public radio outlets, Theriault said."

The broader financial base and the grant from CPB could make the difference in its success, stations that have carried one or both of the men told Journal-isms.

"Tony Cox is a great journalist," Ron Jones, program director of WDET-FM at Wayne State University in Detroit, Dyson's hometown, told Journal-isms. But he said he did not think "UpFront" was even made available to his station, which is not a member of the African American consortium. "We're very interested in the show," Jones said of Dyson's new offering. "I've been a fan of Michael Eric Dyson and met with him with a group of black public radio broadcasters last fall to talk about the show."

Charles Hudson, program manager at KTSU at Texas Southern University in Houston, said, "We'll probably run both" shows, not having heard of "UpFront's" financial problems. "My main thing is diversity of perspective," he said, saying, "We want as many different viewpoints as we can get."

Still, in some quarters, bad feelings over the previous Dyson experience remain. "No we do not plan to run that show," Aaron Cohen, program director at WCLK-FM, at Clark Atlanta University, told Journal-isms via e-mail. "We had that show early on and they had some problems. We are finished. . . . We love Tony Cox!!!"

"Even as he offered up an abject, if very rehearsed, public apology, it became apparent that, on the course and off, Tiger Rules still prevailed.

"In his speech, Mr. Woods spoke directly about how entitlement led him to make horrible decisions. But part of the reason that he lived his life so recklessly was that he froze out any reporter or media organization that went off message. Setting aside his off-course interests, most beat writers didn‚Äôt bother to spill a lot of ink talking about his tendency to slam a club on occasion, blow past autograph-seekers and curse out the gods and the galleries when a shot fell short of perfection.

"His footprint in the game was so large that Mr. Woods was able to dictate the terms of coverage. Probably the last time Tiger Woods let it all hang out was in 1997 in a piece by Charles P. Pierce in GQ. Mr. Woods came off as profane, funny and a bit of a player. He hated the profile, and after that, it was nothing but wonky golf talk from the microphone and baleful stares at anybody who wanted more than that.

‚Äú 'He stopped being impressed by coverage at a very young age, and after that, he became very cold-eyed and wondered, "What‚Äôs in it for me?" ' Mr. Diaz said. 'He would love to play golf and never have to answer a question.' (Golf Digest has a long-term contract with Mr. Woods for a monthly column that is currently suspended.) "Rob Tannenbaum wrote a piece about Mr. Woods for TV Guide in 2001. The magazine had agreed not to make race a subject of the interview, but Mr. Woods brought it up independently. Even that was not allowed. ‚Äú 'His handler walked over and the interview ended immediately,' Mr. Tannenbaum said. 'Tiger just got up and left the room, and no amount of explaining that I had not breached the agreement was going to get Tiger to come back and sit down.' (Mr. Tannenbaum wrote up what he had, including Mr. Woods‚Äôs father, Earl Woods, saying he hoped his son didn‚Äôt marry anytime soon: 'Let‚Äôs face it, a wife can sometimes be a deterrent to a good game of golf.')"

Lewis Johnson, right, of NBC Sports is one of a small number of journalists of color covering the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. (Video)

Handful of Journalists of Color at Vancouver Olympics

A handful of journalists of color are among the hundreds of U.S. media people covering the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. There are fewer American newspaper reporters than at any recent Olympics, and a greater share of digital journalists.

When credentialing took place in November, Tripp Mickle wrote for Sports Business Journal:

"The U.S. Olympic Committee, which issued 481 credentials to publications and Web sites for the event, has had 135 credentials returned this year. More than 90 percent of the credentials were returned by newspapers and traditional publications like Newsweek, which returned five of six credentials; The Dallas Morning News, which returned four of six; and the McClatchy's Washington bureau, which returned seven credentials and kept four.

"Digital media is taking up a larger chunk of credentials for the Vancouver Games than any previous Olympics. Yahoo!, which had one credential for the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, will have 21 this year; AOL, which had one in 2006, will have five; and ESPN.com, which had no credentials last time, will have seven."

"I viewed the Olympic assignment as an opportunity to really grow as a writer and reporter because the Winter Games have forced me to stretch myself," Taylor told Journal-isms by e-mail from Vancouver. "Outside of hockey, I don't follow any of the other Olympic sports, so it's been a challenge to familiarize myself with them. That's the challenge and that's the fun.

"I haven't seen many journalists of color here, which doesn't really surprise me. Relatively speaking, there aren't that many columnists of color and there aren't that many reporters of color who cover the Olympics. Typically, those are the folks who cover the Olympics. Hopefully, that's something that will change quickly over time."

Miami Herald Is Right to Tilt Pro-Gay, Ombudsman Says

Since June, the Miami Herald "ran seven op-ed columns supporting various gay rights, versus two that opposed. News columnist Daniel Shoer Roth, who is openly gay, wrote three more in the news pages that were sympathetic to gay causes," the paper's ombudsman, Edward Schumacher-Matos, wrote on Sunday.

"The pro views, for the most part, supported gay adoption of children, gay service in the military and gay marriage. The anti ones, both by Cal Thomas, rejected having gays in the military, gay marriage and the ordination of gay Episcopal bishops.

"Add to this two editorials in which The Herald editorial board endorsed allowing gay adoption and ending the military's don't ask/don't tell policy and the balance on the pages clearly favored expanding gay rights. Is this wrong? I don't think so."

"The Local East Village site will be developed by N.Y.U.'s journalism faculty and students and is scheduled to launch later this fall. Richard G. Jones, an award-winning veteran journalist and former New York Times reporter, will serve as the editor of the site. Mr. Jones will work with students, faculty and the East Village community to cover the news of everyday life in the neighborhood.

"Together with N.Y.U. professors Yvonne Latty and Darragh Worland, Mr. Jones will also manage 'The Hyperlocal Newsroom,' a course that will allow students to engage in a variety of ways, including reporting and writing for the site. Summer courses will also be available for students of other journalism institutions.

"N.Y.U. will coordinate with Mary Ann Giordano, a New York Times deputy Metropolitan editor, on the editorial content for The Local East Village. The site will live on NYTimes.com. The Times is advising on the development of the site by the Carter Institute's 'Studio 20 concentration,' which is taught by Journalism Institute faculty members Jay Rosen and Jason Samuels."

Short Takes

The Huffington Post's latest section, "'HuffPost College,' launched today," Mike Taylor wrote Monday for Fishbowl NY. "The section features content from more than 60 college newspapers in addition to cross-posts from other sections of the Web site. Jose Antonio Vargas will be heading up the section. That work will be added on to Vargas' existing duties as HuffPost's technology and innovations editor. Leah Finnegan, former editor of University of Texas' Daily Texan, will be¬† assisting him." Vargas made an effort to be sure the site presented a diverse representation of students.

An exhibit of images of President Obama by Derrick Z. Jackson, Boston Globe columnist, is on display at the Museum of African American History, 46 Joy St., Beacon Hill, Boston. Jackson will be present at a reception Wednesday at 5:30 p.m., and again on March 18 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Those interested should RSVP with the Museum's Scott McDuffie at smcduffie (at) maah.org.

"The fate of East West has been decided‚Äîfor the second time," Jason Fell wrote Feb. 15 for Folio. "On the magazine‚Äôs blog Monday, founder Anita Malik announced that after a hard deliberation she has decided to stop publishing East West. Its Web site will continue to be updated through the end of this week. 'East West, my first love ‚Ä¶ just doesn‚Äôt work anymore, not like this,' wrote Malik."

Not many news organizations can routinely put together a program featuring black staff members who have recently authored books, but the Washington Post plans such a Black History Month presentation on Thursday. Joel Dreyfuss, managing editor of theRoot.com, moderates a presentation with staffers DeNeen L. Brown Michael Fletcher, Lisa Frazier, Kevin Merida, Lonnae O'Neal Parker, Robert E. Pierre and Michelle Singletary.

"As minorities we tend to raise our children to find 'good jobs,' not to pursue something they are passionate about," according to Derek Walker, an African American who loves the creativity of the advertising business. He wrote Thursday in Advertising Age, "Recently, I was part a group of men and boys from several congregations discussing manhood. The speaker asked this group of 200-plus men, 'How many of you have a dream?' Several raised their hands. Then he asked, 'How many of you are living your dream?' Less than 10 of us raised our hands. I looked to my side and my two sons had their hands up. The father in me was proud, but the black man in me was crying ‚Äî so many of us either don't have a dream or aren't living our dream."

A multicultural group of seven Rutgers University journalism students have started a Web site, www.itsonbad.com, that "focuses on the news and information priorities of 16 to 25 year olds globally. Our goal is to prove that good journalism can actually make money and support independent, non-major corporate journalism," the effort's marketing manager, Krystle Rich, told Journal-isms.

The Minority Writers Seminar, a program of the National Conference of Editorial Writers to increase the pool of skilled opinion writers of color, is accepting applications for its next class until March 8. The sessions take place April 29 to May 2 at the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. Lodging and food at the seminar are covered; participants are reimbursed up to $200 for transportation to and from Nashville. Enrollment is limited to 15. More information at: http://www.minoritywritersseminar.org/

Richard Prince's Journal-isms originates from Washington and is published Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It began in print before most of us knew what the Internet was, and it would like to be referred to as a "column." For newcomers: The words in blue (on most computers) are links leading to more information. The Web site BugMeNot.com provides passwords and user names to some registration-only news sites, but use may be illegal in some states. Any views expressed in the column are those of the person or organization quoted and not those of any other entity.

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